The Cranston East football team is looking to make some noise in its new division this fall and has done just that in the early going, as it topped Moses Brown 14-0 in last week’s injury fund exhibition to close out the preseason.

East has been rebuilding since the departure of longtime coach Tom Centore and is coming off a one-win season last year. The Bolts were dropped to Division III in the Rhode Island Interscholastic League’s latest alignment and also hired new head coach Jim Cook, who helped revitalize Ponaganset’s program.

Although the injury fund contest did not count toward either team’s record, the Bolts turned heads as they were in control from start to finish against the Quakers, who reached the playoffs last season and won the DIII Super Bowl back in 2022.

“We made a ton of mistakes and we need to get better every week, but they played together. They played as a team so I’m proud of that,” said Cook, who has seen the team start to turn the corner as the regular season gets set to kick off this week. “It was a tough transition (in the first practices), but once we started getting over that hump, guys started to buy in and get better. Now they’re playing hard for us.”

Leading East this season will be returning big men Saqari Monroe and DionAndre Brown. Each will be mainstays on the defensive line while Monroe will be a halfback on offense. Brown has also been contributing on special teams.

“They run our defense. We need them to have a big season for us up front since our linebackers and secondary are very young. We’ll need them to play assignment football,” said Cook.

The Bolts will be looking at some new faces to emerge in the lineup as well. Quarterback Jovany Gonzalez was sharp in last week’s exhibition as he steps under center, taking over a position that was uneven last fall. Gonzalez connected with freshman Amias Reed for a touchdown to get the Bolts on the board. Reed was a steady contributor as a receiver and returner on special teams.

“We have a ton of young talent all over the field so we’re looking forward to working with them, the future is bright here,” Cook said.

Gavin Boylan put the exclamation point on the win when he returned an interception for the score as time ran out on the clock to make it 14-0.

East will open the season by hosting Narragansett on Friday night at Cranston Stadium. Cook hopes the strong preseason will instill some early confidence in his group as it looks to find a home in DIII.

“(It’s going to be about) them starting to learn how to win and believe that we can compete with every team we’re facing this year. We’re going to have obstacles, ups and downs, we just need to keep playing,” Cook said.